Reeves to protect energy and infrastructure projects from court challenges Legal Chancellor Rachel Reeves is drawing up reforms to give parliament the power to insulate essential energy and infrastructure projects from court challenges. The government is expected to put forward plans to keep the projects safe from judicial review. “For too long, vital infrastructure delivery has been delayed by judicial reviews of projects,” a Treasury spokesperson [...]
As it happened: UK borrowing costs rattled by Burnham’s Parliament bid Markets Welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Andy Burnham has made his move – and it has left markets on edge. On Thursday evening, after markets had closed, a Labour MP sensationally announced their intention to stand aside to allow Burnham to make his way back into Parliament. And this morning it’s left gilt yields [...]
Ministers to be handed ‘statutory powers’ to steer regulator’s growth agenda Regulation Ministers will be handed new “statutory powers” to steer UK watchdog’s growth agenda and define what it means in different “regulatory contexts“. In the King’s Speech, the government revealed its Regulating for Growth Bill – a cross-sector piece of legislation designed to beef up the UK’s regulatory system’s fostering of growth. The government’s report takes [...]
Let’s create new hereditary peers and put them to work – just not in the Lords May 7, 2026 The government was right to abolish hereditary peers, but it would be a mistake to lose the custodians of the memories of great Britons of the past, says Bartek Staniszewski In the 70s, during a debate in the House of Lords, one of the peers quoted a Lord Chief Justice from the reign of King [...]
Business leaders, I beseech you, join the government and steer the ship of state April 29, 2026 Business leaders embody the antithesis of what the government machine has become, which is why it needs them, writes Ameer Kotecha.
Rachel Reeves plots ‘growth push’ as Labour set for bruising elections April 27, 2026 Rachel Reeves is plotting another “growth push” as the Labour party prepares itself for a potentially bruising defeat in the local elections. The Chancellor is set to unveil a new push for fiscal discipline, a closer relationship with the EU and planning reforms in a bid to ease the nerves of the party. The forthcoming [...]
Reeves broke “promises” on farmer inheritance tax reforms, court hears March 17, 2026 Rachel Reeves “broke promises” when she failed to consult over changes to inheritance tax (IHT) reliefs in her first Autumn Budget, a court has heard. The Chancellor’s proposed changes to agricultural property relief (APR) and business property relief (BPR) represent one of the biggest shifts in IHT policy in decades. In the 2024 Autumn Budget, [...]
Hiding MP staffer names is a bizarre decision post-Mandelson scandal March 13, 2026 Plans to remove the names of MP staffers from the official register will only make Westminster more opaque, writes Alastair McCapra.
The Debate: Should MP salaries be linked to GDP? March 11, 2026 As MPs receive an inflation-busting pay rise, we ask if it's time to better incentivise politicians by linking their salaries to growth.
£40bn to restore Parliament? Maybe Guy Fawkes had the right idea… February 25, 2026 The reported £40bn cost of refurbishing the Palace of Westminster is not a serious proposal – it’s a distraction designed to outrage, writes James Ford We are all familiar with the Goldilocks principle of restaurant wine lists. Every wine list is part marketing ploy, part social gauntlet and pure psychological trickery. It is designed to [...]